Glover Teixeira has kept his UFC light heavyweight title hopes alive with an upset victory over Anthony Smith in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Jacksonville, Florida.
Teixeira fought back from an early Smith flurry to clobber his more-favoured opponent throughout the final three rounds before finally sealing his fourth-straight victory with a fifth-round TKO.
The win appears to have put the 40-year-old former title-challenger on a collision course for a number one contender bout with the up and coming Jan Blachowicz.
Not bad for a 40-year-old! 😤
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) May 14, 2020
It was only a matter of time! 👊
What a performance by @gloverteixeira! 👏#UFCJax | BT Sport 2 HD pic.twitter.com/0jFh6q2UK7
"Here I am baby, getting on another run for the title."@gloverteixeira has now put together his best win streak in 7️⃣ years:
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) May 14, 2020
✅ Karl Roberson
✅ Ion Cuțelaba
✅ Nikita Krylov
✅ Anthony Smith#UFCJax | BT Sport 2 HD pic.twitter.com/seNyO2uSzw
Elsewhere...
Meanwhile the heavyweight co-main event saw Ben Rothwell eke out a split decision victory over Ovince St Preux.
Rothwell dominated the fight in the clinch early before St Preux was able to drop him to a knee in the second round with a nasty counter left hook.
However St Preux was not able to maintain that momentum in the third as Rothwell ultimately got the better of the pair's late striking exchanges.
Other results saw Drew Dober defeat Alexander Hernandez with a second-round TKO while Michael Johnson tapped out to Thiago Moises via a heel-hook also in the second round.
What an end to the fight! 😲#UFCJax | BT Sport 2 HD pic.twitter.com/lxH9ZzhZmv
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) May 14, 2020
